A Date with the Night
by DCHeesegirl
Summary: Someone new comes to Vegas. She's a little crazy, but she knows how to use her head. How do our CSI's get along with someone who's possibly more punk that Greg? WIP.
1. Unexpected

Hi there, fellow CSI lovers! I've finally gotten around finishing this chapter and getting it posted. I must say, this is the most I've ever written on a non-school-related subject. I've recently gotten into a Greg mood. He's great! It's sort of scary how I came across this show in the first place. I think it was a first season show, the one when they found this girl drowned in a pool. I was watching it and I liked it because it reminded me of the CSI performance task I had done last year. So I'm sitting there watching it, and then almost out of nowhere, this very attractive guy is dancing around wearing Portia Richmond's headdress. And the second episode I saw, he had this amazing hairdo and I just cracked up whenever the camera showed him because it looked so funny. Warrick looks so much like my friend Joe, including the eyes. Oh my gosh, they are so amazing. So, after watching half a dozen episodes and reading half a dozen fanfics (most of them were slash…don't ask) I decided to write a fic of my own…so nyeh…Anyways, I taped the Play with Fire episode and I. Almost. Choked. Greggie got hurt! WAAAH! Seriously, I hadn't been expecting that to happen. So, later chapters will involve parts from the Play with Fire episode. I believe this author note is long enough, so it ends here.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! If I owned CSI…well…you wouldn't wanna know.

Rating: PG-13 to be safe, because it might escalate to R if this goes well.

* * *

The Las Vegas heat swelled in the air. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and also one of the busiest for the Las Vegas CSI crew. Inside the lab, loud punk rock music blared from a stereo. Catherine stopped by Greg's desk, where he sat doing air guitar and rocking his head back and forth. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, but an amused smile was already on her lips.

"Uh…Greg?" She said, loud enough for him to hear. He stopped what he was doing and looked up. When he saw it was Catherine, he grinned and turned off his music.

"Hey, Catherine. I've got a match from the sperm samples. Here you go." Greg said, handing her the lab results. He stood by as she read the sheet of paper. Her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You mean to tell me that the semen swabbed from Ashley's mouth wasn't the gardener's, but the…the father's?" Catherine said, looking disgusted. Her lips formed a thin line.

"Hey…are you okay?" Greg asked, looking concerned. Catherine took a deep breath and nodded.

"I'll be alright. Catch ya later, Greg." She made her way into the break room and fixed herself another cup of coffee. Sara was sitting at the table, almost nodding off to sleep on the file she was reading. Catherine looked at her.

"Need another cup?" She asked. Sara abruptly looked up at the coffee pot and then to the folder in front of her.

"No thanks." She said, rubbing her eyes. Catherine shrugged and sipped her coffee. She peered through the glass window at the rest of the lab a woman going into Grissom's office. A girl who looked like she was in her late teens followed her.

"Huh. Wonder what's going on at Grissom's." Catherine said. Sara looked up and frowned.

"Who's that?" She asked. She saw the woman, who was talking to the girl like she was trying to comfort her about something. "Social worker?"

"Beats me. Let's go see." Catherine said. Sara shrugged and stood up. As they approached, the first thing they saw was Grissom standing in front of his desk looking somewhat worried. Across from him sat the social worker and the teenage girl who had short black hair with red streaks. She wore a black ruffled skirt, pink fishnet stockings, a pink and black ACDC tank top, and black army boots. She sat in a chair directly across from Grissom and stared at the floor tiles as the woman explained.

"…She did ask that one of her remaining family members gain custody of her daughter until she is old enough to live on her own." The woman was saying.

"She has to be the girl's social worker." Sara murmured to Catherine, who nodded.

"So…if none of the family members accepts her, she'll have to go into foster care until she's 18." Grissom said. She nodded.

"She's almost 18, so she's got a couple of months until she can be on her own." She said.

"Not that I can afford it." The girl murmured. Grissom glanced at her.

"What is your name?" He asked kindly.

"Tawny. Tawny Martinez." She said, looking up.

"I'm Gil Grissom, nice to meet you." He said, reaching over and shaking her hand. He then looked to the woman. "Which one of my CSI's is she related to?"

The lady was just about to speak when Grissom's singing fish above the door went off. Catherine frowned at Sara, who had stepped forward and set it off. All three of the people in the office turned to look at them.

"Hello, Catherine, Sara." Grissom said, looking slightly amused at their red faces. He then motioned for the social worker to go on.

"She's Nick Stokes' cousin. He works the graveyard shift, correct?"

"My cousin?" Nick asked, surprised.

"You've inherited the custody of your cousin, Tawny Martinez, until she is 18." Mrs. Taylor, the social worker explained.

"Wow." Nick said, running a hand through his dark hair. "I knew Aunt Terry liked me, but why ME? I've got my other sisters that could watch after her."

"She specifically stated your name in her will to gain custody of Tawny if she were to pass away before Tawny turned 18. She wanted Tawny to stay in the U.S. Reason being, she wasn't comfortable with the idea of flying an airplane over a large body of water." Mrs. Taylor said. "Only one sister lives in the U.S. now, but she's in debt…" She let it hang, and watched Nick as he stood thinking for a long while.

"Alright." Nick said quietly, nodding. "I guess I could take her in if there's nobody else." Mrs. Taylor smiled and took a paper out of the folder she was holding and handed Nick a pen.

"Sign here please." She said, giving him the paper. Nick took a deep breath and scribbled his signature on the line. He handed the paper back to her and she handed him a folder.

"These are her medical records and all her other information. I believe she's waiting in the other room. I have her luggage in my car, shall I bring them in?" She asked.

"Uh, sure. Do you need any help?" Nick asked politely.

"No, thank you, they have wheels." Mrs. Taylor said, and she set off for the parking lot. Grissom went to stand by Nick. They watched her go, and then Grissom turned to Nick.

"Just do your best, Nicky." He said, patting Nick on the shoulder. He gestured to the break room. Nick nodded and walked in. He almost laughed at what he saw. Tawny was sitting at the table trying to listen to music as Greg sat beside her, grinning ear to ear, attempting to get her phone number. Tawny looked up at Nick, her eyes silently pleading him to help her. Nick smiled, stepping forward.

"Hey, you must be Tawny." He said. She nodded shyly. Up close she reminded him of his aunt. Aunt Terry had always been on the wild side, but had settled down when she was diagnosed with cancer. He hadn't seen either of them in a long time. He only remembered them from old home movies and pictures. He blinked and brought himself back into the present. "I'm Nick."

Tawny nodded. "I remember. Sort of." Greg looked from Nick to Tawny in confusion.

"Greg, this is my cousin Tawny. She's staying with me until she's eighteen." Nick said. Greg blinked in surprise and then nodded.

"Ooo-kay, well, I'm outtie." Greg said, heading back towards his lab. Tawny sighed in relief.

"Thanks for getting rid of that guy. He was creepy."

"No problem. Greg's always sort of wacko. Never know what he's gonna come up with next." Nick said, laughing. Tawny looked out of the glass partition at the rest of the lab.

"How's it like working here? Is it fun?" She asked.

"Well, not all the time. Come on, I'll show you around."

"Cool." Tawny stood up and followed him out of the break room.

"Alright, across from here is where Greg is…uh…wow." Nick said. Greg was rocking to his music again and was playing some serious air guitar.

"Yay, I'm not the only rocker person around here!" Tawny said, laughing.

"Yeah, well, when he's working, he's in charge of DNA. The only way you can stop him from acting weird is if you bring Grissom into the room. Hey, while I'm at it, let me show you Grissom's office. He's got a fetal pig in there."

"Ew. You mean they killed a baby pig?" Tawny said, looking grossed out. Nick held in a laugh.

"Actually, this is one of the little piglets that didn't make it. The mom got slaughtered before she gave birth." He led her into Grissom's office and showed her the jar where the preserved pig was. Tawny tilted her head in a curious way.

"I remember I was absent one day at my school when my biology class was gonna dissect one of these things." Tawny said. Her eyes shifted to the other specimens displayed in the office. Her eyes fell upon a small tank of water that had strange wormlike things at the bottom.

"Leeches." Tawny said. "Cool."

"So dead pigs are gross and blood-sucking leeches are cool?" Nick asked.

"I never said dead pigs were gross." She said, crossing her arms and looking up at him. He then noticed that she had a diamond stud nose ring on her right nostril. "Got it last September." She explained when she saw him looking.

"Well, I have to get back to work for a few minutes. You can hang out in the break room. I'm sure everyone knows you're here by now." Tawny laughed as they headed back to the break room. They passed by Greg, who had music blaring out of his CD player. Tawny stopped short when she heard the song that was playing.

"Oh, I LOVE this band!" She exclaimed. Greg looked up and grinned. He turned the volume down a bit.

"The Yeah Yeah Yeahs can get pretty wild onstage." He said to her. "Karen O is the craziest girl I've ever seen."

"I've got Nick Zinner's name tattooed on me, wanna see?" Tawny said. Greg and Nick looked at her, curious. She turned her back to Greg and lifted the bottom of her ACDC shirt a few centimeters to reveal the word "Zinner" tattooed on her lower back in letters resembling cursive handwriting.

"Let me see?" Nick said, craning his neck a bit to see it better. She let him see it, and then busied herself with pulling the bottom of her shirt back down and making sure that it looked okay. While she did this, Greg exchanged a wide eyed glance with Nick behind Tawny's back. Nick just smiled back. Tawny straightened up again and caught them looking at her.

"Well, I've got to talk to Sara, see if she found anything in that abandoned truck. Seeya later." Nick said, walking off.

"So, which song's your favorite?" Greg said, writing down the finishing touches to his paperwork and straightening up his desk.

"Date with the Night." She said. He looked up at her from the tops of his eyes and smiled.

"That's like one of their most explicit songs that they've ever performed onstage." Greg said. Tawny shrugged.

"It's an awesome song." She said. "Do you have it on your CD?"

"I can't play it here, Grissom'll probably get mad at me for making all the corpses in the morgue turn over in their graves." Greg said, flashing Tawny a goofy grin. She laughed. A tall dark-skinned man with an afro 'do came up to them. He cast a curious gaze at Tawny, and she noticed that he had amazing green-gray eyes.

"Is this your girlfriend, Greg?" He questioned. Almost simultaneously, Greg and Tawny both turned a shade of red.

"Um, no—uh—Warrick, this is Nick's cousin Tawny. She's staying with him, I guess." Greg stammered. Warrick raised an eyebrow at Greg and tried to suppress a grin. He then turned to Tawny, who had been looking from Greg to Warrick.

"I'm Warrick Brown, nice to meet you." He said, shaking hands with her. She smiled at him, but seemed rather speechless, so she nodded. She liked his eyes. "So how long are you staying with him?"

"Um, at least 'til I'm eighteen, 'cuz my mom just died and my other cousins have kids of their own to take care of. At least, that was what I heard." Tawny explained in an accent less evident than Nick's. Warrick nodded.

"Are you gonna be going to school?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I graduated already because I got moved up a grade. So, I'm heading for college next." Tawny explained. Warrick nodded.

"That's good. You get a head start on the college hunt." He said, sounding impressed. Tawny turned a shocking shade of red and giggled. Greg and Warrick exchanged glances and tried not to laugh. Tawny remembered herself then and sobered up.

"I'm sorry; I must be keeping y'all from working. I'll just be in the break room. Seeya." She said, giving a little wave and going down the hall. They watched her go.

"Cute girl." Warrick said. Greg nodded.

"Uh-huh."

"Greg."

"Huh?"

"Close your mouth. You're drooling."

* * *

Well, that's the end for now! I'm working on the second chapter, just thought I'd go ahead and post this. Tell me what you think, was it at least decently written? I'd love to hear suggestions and plot ideas. 


	2. Classified ads

I'd like to start out this chapter by responding to my readers:

SpectralLady—You read my mind! Tawny definitely needs a female role model. Lol, maybe Catherine can hire her to be Lindsey's babysitter.

Neovator—Yeah, I know what you mean about the age difference thing. I said the same thing about Ashton and Demi 'cuz I had the biggest crush on Ashton and then they say he's dating someone who could easily be his mom or aunt or something. Tawny's going to be eighteen in two months, but…GAAH! Greg's almost 30?!?! HOLY FISH STICKS!—Naw, I'm kidding. I knew he was in his late 20's. But at least that's fewer years than the Ashton/Demi age gap! But seriously…this story's one of those "age ain't nothing but a number" stories. Also, they really aren't gonna fall in love too fast.

Fwe—I agree! Greg is HOTT!! Lol, I remember that one episode when he was on the phone and he's like "I love you more! No, I love you more!" and I picked up my phone and said "No, I love YOU more!" and then my brother happened to be on the phone with his girlfriend at the moment, so he thought I was pretty demented. Sheesh, I need my own phone line.

Rob—Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything CSI except Tawny Martinez!

Rating: Still PG-13.

* * *

Sara walked into the break room, now desperate for a cup of coffee. She poured herself a cup and took a cautious sip. She sighed, relieved that it was Blue Hawaiian. She turned at the sound of rustling papers and saw Nick's cousin sitting there reading the Classified ads.

"Oh. Hi there, I'm Sara Sidle." Sara said. The girl smiled and shook her hand.

"I'm Tawny Martinez, Nick's cousin." She said. Sara nodded and sat in a chair across from her. Tawny looked down at the Classified ads and sighed. "I'm trying to find a job in here, but all I see are bookies, dancers and burger flippers." Sara smiled.

"Don't worry. That's not all that Vegas has to offer. You'll find something good." Sara said reassuringly. Tawny smiled. Greg burst in right that moment, looking smug.

"Sara, you are going to fall madly in love with me after this." He said holding up a paper.

"I doubt it," Sara said, grinning playfully. "What did you get?"

"The prints found on the steering wheel belong to none other than…drum roll, please…" Greg said, pausing to get a drum roll. Sara rolled her eyes, but Tawny grinned and did a little tapping noise on the table with her fingernails.

"…and the winner is…the jealous ex-wife!" Greg finished. Sarah frowned.

"Never saw that coming. Thanks, Greg." She said. Greg outstretched his arms like he deserved a hug, but Sara ducked under them and went off in search of Nick. Greg blinked and then dropped his arms. He went over to the table and sat in the chair Sara had just abandoned.

"What are you up to?" He asked Tawny.

"Trying to find a job that doesn't involve gambling, stripping, or burger-flipping." Tawny said, flipping a page. "Oooh, look: nanny for the evening! A dollar an hour…nah."

"Hey, there's a lab tech assistant wanted somewhere in there." Greg said, hiding a grin. Tawny looked at him. "Job description: Refill coffee cup and give occasional massage."

"Wow. That sounds fun! I might just apply." Tawny said sarcastically. There was silence as she traded the Classifieds for the Entertainment section and flipped to the comics. Greg smiled.

"The best part of the newspaper." Greg said. Tawny smiled.

"You bet." She said. She scanned over them.

"Anything good in there?"

"Not today." She flipped to the next page where there were announcements listed about upcoming events. Greg got up and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Want some?" He asked Tawny.

"No, thanks. Too much caffeine for me. I would get terribly hyper." Tawny replied. Greg was about to comment on that when his beeper went off, and he looked out the glass partition to see Grissom and Catherine waiting for him.

"Whoops. Seeya later." Greg said, and he went back to his lab. Tawny looked out the glass partition to see his spiky hair retreating down the hall towards the DNA lab. She thought it was adorable how the little strands of blonde and brown stuck out straight every which way. She remembered his air guitar solo from earlier, and it reminded her of how Nick Zinner played. She smiled and pretended to read her paper so that she wouldn't look suspicious. Overall, he seemed pretty cool to Tawny.

Nick walked into the break room and smiled at her while setting down a stack of papers on the table.

"Doin' alright?" He asked. She nodded.

"Met a few people, flirted, and talked. They're really nice." Tawny said quickly. Nick nodded, but then stopped suddenly. He looked at her.

"Flirted? With who?" He asked, smiling amusedly. She shrugged a little and her face turned pink.

"Greg." She said.

"So you think he's cute?" Nick asked.

"If you're gonna tell him, no. otherwise, yes." Tawny grinned. "I wonder how much time he takes working on that hairdo." Nick poured himself some coffee and shrugged.

"He's had a lot of off-the-wall hairdos." Nick said. "Mohawks, mushrooms…At one time, he had these three lines going across the side of his head." Tawny snorted at the mental pictures.

"I did this drastic hair coloring thing on my hair when I was 8, and my mom almost killed me. I bought one of those home hair coloring kits that you get at Wal-Mart and dyed my hair blonde and curled it." Tawny said. Nick laughed. "I guess I'm supposed to only have straight dark hair, 'cuz when I got out of that bathroom, I looked like some yellow poodle from hell." Nick was in the middle of a swig of coffee and had to grab a napkin to avoid spitting all over the table.

"I'm sorry!" Tawny said, grabbing more napkins and handing them to him. "Didn't mean to cause a spit take."

"That's alright." Nick said, dabbing at his mouth. "I guess I'm just not used to hearing 'yellow poodle from hell.'"

"Well, I like to use weird comparisons. They're fun to use 'cuz you get cool reactions from people, like spit takes." Tawny said, holding up the newspaper to hide her smiling face. Nick looked up at the back of the newspaper and grinned. She had his aunt's sense of humor. Warrick and Catherine walked into the break room and grabbed cups of coffee. Greg came in a few seconds later and looked devastated to see the coffeepot almost empty. Tawny lowered her paper.

"What's up with everyone drinking this much of my coffee?" He whined. Everyone with a coffee cup in the room took long swigs just to annoy him. He sighed and just sat down at the table.

"Tawny, have you met Warrick and Catherine?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I met her earlier." Warrick said. Catherine sat on the other side of Nick.

"Hi, I'm Catherine Willows." Catherine said. Tawny smiled and shook her hand.

"Tawny Martinez."

"Hey, Cath, do you know any high schools nearby for Tawny?" Nick asked. Tawny looked up.

"Oh, I forgot I didn't tell you yet! I graduated already. I had been put up a grade in school." Tawny said. Nick looked slightly taken aback for a moment, and then he nodded.

"She's looking for a job." Greg explained for her. "I do need someone to refill my coffee and give me massages."

"Don't we all, Greg?" Catherine said.

"I didn't find anything in those Classifieds. Bookie, stripper, burger boy: top three most wanted jobs in Vegas." Tawny said. She didn't notice everyone exchanging glances with Catherine.

"Well, stripper and bookie are out of the question." Catherine said. "They're not all that great."

"You can be cash register for some store." Warrick suggested. Tawny sighed and nodded.

"I guess that'll do for now. I want to find some exciting job right away, but then I keep forgetting that I still need to go to college." Tawny said.

"You sounded just a little bit too much like Sara on that last one." Nick said. Sara came up behind him just then and stood behind his chair. "She's standing right behind me, isn't she?"

"Yes I am." Sara said, and took a seat next to him. Greg looked thoughtful.

"Actually, She didn't really sound like Sara on that last one. She would have to be saying something about no sleep and being a workaholic." Greg said. Sara looked at him. She didn't say anything, but gave one of her cute little frustrated sighs with just a hint of an annoyed grin on her face.

"I'm sorry, Sara. Let me give you a hug." Greg said, holding his arms out in front of him.

"No." She said, flatly.

"Chow, chow, chow, chow, chow, chow, chow, chow, chow, chow" Tawny whispered out of nowhere. They looked at her and noticed that she had her earphones on.

"Lemme see!" Greg said, hopping up. She gave him the head phones and he listened to the song. "Oh yeah, that's my Karen O!"

"Well," Catherine said, getting up. "I'd better be getting home. See y'all later."

"Yeah, I ought to be going, too." Warrick said. They all chorused their goodbyes, and then Warrick and Catherine left.

"Well, I should be turning in for the night. Gotta get Tawny settled in." Nick said, getting up. Tawny stood also and began gathering her things. Greg took off her headphones and began helping them with Tawny's luggage.

"See you guys later." Sara called as they left the break room and headed toward the parking lot. They loaded the stuff into Nick's trunk and the backseat, and then Greg headed off towards his car after Nick and Tawny left the parking lot.

After a few minutes of driving, Nick looked over at Tawny to ask her a question, but she had already fallen asleep against the headrest.

* * *

Bring on suggestions and comments, and remember: Greg is more sizzlin' than the PH of stomach acid! 


	3. Boyfriends

Tawny opened her eyes to see that she was in an unfamiliar room. She sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She could see the hall light on outside of her door and smelt toast. She reluctantly got up and put her hair in a messy bun and put on her knitted poncho over her pajamas before trudging into the kitchen.

"G'mornin." Nick said, acknowledging her presence. He was spreading butter and jam on his toast.

"Morning." She replied.

"I'm going to be heading out to the gym. Want any breakfast?" He asked.

"No thanks, I don't eat breakfast." Tawny said, sitting on a stool by the counter. She gazed at the calendar posted on the wall. "I forget. What day is it again?"

"Thursday." Nick said. She sighed.

"I want it to be Friday so I can see my lovechild." Tawny said. Nick was about to put the cap on the butter and froze at that last word. He looked up at her with this freaked out look.

"Hm?" He uttered softly.

"I call my car my lovechild because my boyfriend pitched in some of his money so that I could have it." Tawny said.

"Oh." Nick said, relieved. "So your boyfriend's coming tomorrow? Does he know where you are?"

"Yeah, I gave him the directions before I left. I had to leave my baby with him because Mrs. Taylor didn't want me driving alone the whole way. Had me fly here." Tawny said. The phone rang and Nick answered,

"Stokes…Uh-huh…You've gotta be kidding me…no way…" He smiled at whatever the conversation was about. "Greg...it's not gonna happen. Bye." He hung up and chuckled a bit. "Talk about video game fanatics."

"Oh, I know. My boyfriend is hooked on those Halo games." Tawny said.

"That's exactly what Greg was calling me about. He wanted to use my internet to find cheat codes."

"That sums up boys for ya." Tawny said, rolling her eyes. Nick checked his watch and then picked up a sports bag off the floor.

"I'm heading out for a few. My cell phone number's by the phone if you need to call me. Are you gonna be okay?" Nick said. Tawny nodded.

"I'll try not to invite too many people to the party." She said. Nick laughed as he walked out the door.

"Seeya later." He said. Tawny went to her room and listened to her headphones.

"Chow chow chow chow chow chow chow chow chow chow chow chow!" She chanted along with the music, imitating a Nick Zinner guitar solo.

* * *

"Ew! It's too pink! Get it away!" Tawny yelled, tossing something away from her. She had been sitting in the break room going through newspapers and had come across a JC Penny ad that was advertising little girl's clothing. Fortunately, no one was in there at the moment to see her little outburst.

"Tawny?" The secretary said, poking her head into the room.

"Yes?" Tawny said, looking up.

"Someone up front is here to see you."

"Okay. Thanks." Tawny got up and hurried after the secretary to the front desk. Sure enough, a tall boy with spiky hair, a Ramones shirt, and baggy blue jeans was waiting for her.

"Tawny!" He exclaimed.

"Robbie!" Tawny exclaimed. She jumped into his arms and kissed him. "I missed you! It's been so long!"

"It's only been two days!" Robbie said, laughing. She gave him a pouty face and he couldn't help but kiss her. He hugged her and put his head on her shoulder so he could whisper in her ear. "You wanna go somewhere with me for lunch? I'm leaving out at six and I wanna spend time with you alone."

"Alright. I just have to check in with Nick. Come on, I want you to meet him!" Tawny took him by the hand and led him back to the break room. Across the hall, Nick was just walking out the DNA lab with Greg. They spotted her with Robbie and stopped so that they could talk.

"Guys, this is Robbie. He's my boyfriend." Tawny said, smiling.

"Hey there Robbie. I'm Nick, Tawny's cousin." Nick said, shaking Robbie's hand.

"And I'm Greg." Greg said, giving a little wave to Robbie.

"Nick, is it alright if I go with Robbie to lunch? He's heading back home at six." Tawny asked.

"I promise I'll return her." Robbie added.

"Sure, go ahead. Nice meeting you, Robbie." Nick said. Robbie barely had time to nod when Tawny was pulling him towards the parking lot.

* * *

"My car!" Tawny said, putting her arms across the hood of her old Mustang. Robbie came up behind her bent figure and smacked her behind. "Whoa, cowboy!" She turned around and kissed him, putting her arms around his neck.

"How's about going back to my RV?" Robbie asked. Tawny looked at him curiously.

"You drove your RV here?" Tawny asked. He nodded. "Awesome."

"I've got DiGiorno's." He said. Tawny grinned. "But I'm driving."

"Nooo!" She whined. "Tell me the directions and I'll drive there." She gave him the puppy face and he sighed.

"You can drive on the way back." He said. She puckered up her bottom lip. He kissed it, and then opened up the passenger door. "Ladies first?"

"Fine." Tawny said, rolling her eyes at him in mock annoyance. He smiled at her and then made his way over to the driver's side. He saw Tawny try to climb into the driver's seat, so he flung open the door and sat down as quick as he could. Tawny grinned innocently with one leg draped over the ashtray.

"Nice try." Robbie said, and kissed her while placing a hand on the knee of her jeans. He started to inch it upwards, but Tawny stopped him and pulled her leg back into her side of the car. He broke the kiss, looking at her.

"So where's the RV park at?" Tawny asked, avoiding his eyes. Robbie cranked up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Are you sure you should've done that?" Greg muttered to Nick as Tawny dragged Robbie towards the parking lot. Nick frowned a little.

"What's the harm in letting her go out for lunch?" Nick asked.

"Well, you know how guys can get when they're alone with a pretty girl." Greg said.

"Tawny's a big girl. She can take care of herself." Nick said. "Besides, it's only lunch." Greg looked like he wanted to say more, and then shrugged and went on with informing him about how DNA gets extracted from bubble gum.

* * *

"Paris Hilton is not cool! She's freaky!" Tawny said, hitting Robbie in the chest with a pizza box.

"Well, she's hot." Robbie said. He loved teasing her. She glared at him.

"Well, you know what? That British dude from 'Lost' has a nice ass." Tawny declared.

"What? And I don't have a nice ass?" Robbie said, standing up and feeling his rear end.

"Well…yours is so-so." Tawny said, taking a bite of pizza. She didn't see him smile mischievously and start to move towards her.

"Mine might not be great, but yours is just fine." He said, sitting close to her. He leaned in and began kissing her neck. Tawny shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah, well can you at least wait until I'm finished eating? You have pepperoni in your hair." Robbie sighed and turned away from her.

"Why do you always do that?" Robbie asked, annoyed with her.

"I told you before, Robbie. I told you a long time ago that I'm not ready to go that far!" Tawny said, throwing the crust into the trash.

"When will you be? It's time to grow up, Tawny." Robbie said. He stood abruptly and went to get a soda from the cooler.

"Growing up has nothing to do with it. I don't know what's gotten into you. I'm not some sort of harlot." Tawny said furiously.

"Yeah, well you sure dress like one!" Robbie yelled. Tawny looked at him, her jaw dropped. Robbie seemed to realize what he had just said and cursed. "Tawny—"

"Oh no, Robbie. I'm not going to sit here and let you talk to me like this! If you want a whore, you can find plenty here in those casinos!" She yelled at him. She grabbed her keys off the counter and charged out of the RV. Robbie tried to go after her, but she slammed the door in his face and ran over to her car. By the time Robbie had the door open, Tawny was already speeding off.

* * *

Tawny walked into the break room and sat down quietly. Catherine had been eating an orange and reading some case files. She looked up when Tawny had sat down without a word or greeting. Tawny had her head down and when Catherine looked closer, she saw the girl's shoulders were shaking.

"Tawny?" Catherine said quietly, abandoning her orange and going to her side. "What's wrong?" Tawny sniffled and made several muffled noises, none of which Catherine could understand.

"He…h-h-he was such a jerk." Tawny said in a voice deep with sorrow. Catherine frowned.

"Who was a jerk?" She asked.

"My boyfriend Robbie…" Tawny said, lifting her head and trying to dry her eyes. Catherine patted her on the back.

"Well, did he hit you?" She asked. Tawny shook her head. "Did he yell?" She nodded and burst into a fresh wave of tears. Nick and Warrick walked in joking about something and stopped when they saw Tawny in such a state.

"What happened?" Nick said, crossing behind Catherine sit on the other side of Tawny. Catherine was about to speak for her, but Tawny did it herself.

"Robbie and I yelled at each other. He called me a whore. I left right after that." Tawny mumbled. Catherine handed her tissues from her purse and she wiped her eyes. "He was acting like such a jerk." The room was quiet for a few moments as Tawny calmed down, sniffling every now and then.

"Are you gonna be alright now?" Catherine asked and Tawny nodded slowly. Catherine checked her watch and then hugged Tawny. "I've gotta get back to work, okay? Feel better." Tawny gave a small smile as Catherine stood up and grabbed the rest of her orange before heading out.

"Are you going to be alright for the rest of the day?" Nick asked. "Do you want to go back to the apartment?" Tawny shook her head and insisted that she was fine. He touched her shoulder in sympathy and stood up to get coffee. Warrick, who was standing silently next to the door the whole time, spoke up.

"Hey, Tawny." She looked up at him shyly. "If any guy ever calls you names like that again, dump him. He ain't worth your time." She smiled. "And if he gives you anymore trouble, tell me or Nick and we'll take care of him for you." She giggled and wiped the last of her tears away. Greg walked in to refill on coffee, and looked at Tawny, concerned.

"I heard what happened. Are you alright?" He asked. Tawny flushed red and nodded.

"I'm okay now. God, I feel stupid." Tawny said, hiding her face again.

"Don't feel stupid. It's alright to let it out." Nick said, taking a seat at the table.

"I know what you need." Greg said, grinning. "You need a Greg hug."

"Man, are you trying to make her feel worse?" Warrick joked. "Stop scaring her like that."

"Ha ha, very funny." Greg said. "She needs a Greg hug."

"No, she needs a Warrick hug." Warrick said in mock anger. Nick raised his eyebrow at the very unusual argument going on.

"A Greg hug."

"A Warrick hug."

"I'm going to hug both of you if you don't shut up." Nick said. The two men stopped immediately. Tawny was smiling now.

"You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Greg asked, looking freaked out. Nick just smiled. Tawny stood up.

"Aw, what the heck. Come here you guys." She said, going to hug Greg and Warrick. "I owe y'all one."

"For what?"

"Just for cheering me up." Tawny let go of them and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Greg said, feeling behind him for a "kick me" sign or something.

"It's just—nothing. I gotta get back to those Classifieds." Tawny said with a hint of a blush on her face as she sat down and pulled the newspapers toward her. The three men exchanged glances and shrugged. Eventually, their break was over and they headed back to work, leaving Tawny alone in the break room.

"Got a date with the niiiiiight…"

That's the end for now! I know, what a crappy ending for a chapter! More to come!


	4. Fixed breakup

The day was so hectic that the CSI's had to pull a double shift. Tawny had nothing else to do so she got a key from Nick and decided to head back to their apartment. She drove to the apartment building and was about to park her car when she saw a familiar RV following her. She stopped her car and saw Robbie climb out of the RV. He went around the car looking in the driver's side window. Tawny rolled down the window just a centimeter.

"What do you want?" She asked coolly. Inside, she was trembling. She didn't know what Robbie would do.

"Tawny, baby, I'm sorry." Robbie said. Tawny glared at him. "Look, I didn't mean what I said earlier. I didn't think about it."

"You really think I'm going to believe that?" Tawny said coldly. "I heard what I heard, Robbie."

"Look, I was jealous of what you said about that British dude—"

"That's BULLCRAP! You were going on about Paris Hilton being the hottest girl in Hollywood and I didn't give a rip!" Tawny yelled. Robbie cursed and smacked the hood of her car in frustration.

"I'm sorry, okay? It slipped out. I was mad. I wasn't thinking." Robbie said. Tawny sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. He sighed.

"You're supposed to be heading back home now. Why aren't you?" Tawny asked.

"I couldn't leave without making up with you." Robbie said, looking hopeful.

"What you said to me went way over the line, Robbie. And you never respect my values. You're always trying to get me to do what I'm not ready to do. I don't think you actually like me as ME…I never feel secure around you." Tawny said quietly. There was a long silence as Robbie just stood there staring at her, and then finally he turned and walked back towards his RV. "No! Robbie, wait. Don't go."

"You wanted me to go, Tawny. I'll go." He mumbled as he walked away. Tawny sighed and got out. She put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and turned him around. He looked at her wearily. "I don't want it to end like this, Tawny."

"It doesn't have to end like this. We can still make this work." Tawny said, reassuringly, although she herself was uncertain about this. "Just look at today as one of those off days and start over." Robbie stared at the ground. She took his hand. "Robbie?"

"I really am sorry for what I said earlier, Tawn." He said seriously. "I felt like a jerk when you ran off all pissed." He scuffed a shoe on the ground. Tawny hugged him.

"It's okay, Robbie." She whispered. He hugged her back and they stood there for a moment. He bent his head and kissed her slowly and soon she had her arms around his neck and was kissing him back. She broke the kiss and smiled up at him. "Let's go for coffee somewhere."

"Sounds good to me. Lemme park my RV."

* * *

"So, do you have any idea what type of job you're gonna get?" Robbie asked, kicking her shoe lightly under the table. Tawny twirled her spoon thoughtfully.

"Not really." She said. "I'm just trying to raise enough money for college."

"I thought you had a scholarship." He said.

"I do, but a scholarship's not gonna pay for everything. I still need stuff for me, ya know? Now that I'm on my own…" She took a sip of her coffee, barely believing that the conversation was about her for once.

"What about that cousin of yours?" Robbie asked.

"I don't want him worrying about me too much. I mean, sheesh, ever since I've gotten here he's been working double shifts with his crime lab work." Tawny said. Robbie leaned forwards, looking interested.

"Yeah, I was wondering, what kind of stuff do they do there? I never knew they had scientists and crap there. I thought it was just police." He said. Tawny shrugged.

"M…Mom told me one time that Nick used to be on the Dallas police force, and then switched to what he does now. I dunno, I'm sort of in the dark with all that, even though I was there for, like, a day." She said.

"Hey, doesn't that guy work with your cousin?" Robbie asked suddenly. Tawny turned around to see who he was talking about and saw Greg Sanders take a seat at a booth near them. Tawny turned around abruptly before he could spot her.

"Yeah...stop staring." Tawny said. They sat in silence for a while until they both finished their coffee.

"So, what's up with the red face, Tawn?" Robbie said, studying her face silently. She looked up when she sensed the slight jealousy and suspicion in his tone.

"What?" She asked.

"Macho scientist guy comes in. You immediately go all red…" He let it hang there. Tawny exhaled a puff of air and took Robbie's hand in hers.

"Robbie…if we're going to do this long distance relationship thing, we have to trust each other for it to work." She looked at him determining her words. He nodded after a while. She smiled.

"You're right. I'm sorry." Robbie said. He leaned in and kissed her on the nose. She giggled softly and kissed him on the lips in return…

A certain man in his late twenties tried his best not to notice the couple.


End file.
